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' (No Model.) 2 Sheets--Sl1eefi 1.

S. E. BURKE. ROAD CART.

No. 446,508. Patent-ed Feb. 17,1891.

' avwemtoz 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

S. E. BURKE.

ROAD CART.

Patented Feb. 17,1891.

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STEPHEN E. BURKE, OF EDON, OllIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO LEVIIS lV. JOHNSON, OF SAME PLACE.

ROAD CART.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 446,508, dated February 17, 1891.

Application filed May '7, 1889- Serial No. 309,906. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, STEPHEN BURKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Eden, in the county of- \Villiams and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Road-Carts and other Vehicles; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to vehicles generally, a portion of which, however, is particularly well adapted to dog or road carts, and has for its object to provide means whereby the seat maybe increased or lessened in width, so as to adapt it to accommodate with equal comfort either one or two occupants.

It also has for its object to provide means whereby the seat may be raised or lowered, and it has, further, for its object to provide means for supporting the seat, whereby it will be supported independent of the running-gear and to relieve it from the action or influence of such gear; also, to relieve it from all horse motion or sudden jars in all directions, and also to relieve the strain on the wheels.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as may appear the invention consists in the construction and the combination of parts hereinafter particularly described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, in which-- Figure 1 is a side View; Fig. 2, a rear end view; Fig. 3, a bottom plan view; Fig. 4-, a detail view of hanger; Fig. 5, a detail view of part of front spring and seat-bar; Fig. (i, a detail view of a modification of the means for connecting seat-bar and front spring; Fig. 7, a detail of mode of securing seat-railg Fig. 8, a modification thereof; Fig. 9, a modified form of suspending hangers from thills.

In the drawings, the letter A designates the thills attached to the axle- B in any suitable well-known manner. Arms or standards O are secured to some suitable part of the vehiand their upper ends are made cup or socket shaped, as shown at F so as to receive the balls F on the hangers O, and thus fornra ball-and-socket joint between the hanger and standard, the socket being formed with a slot a for the insertion of the hanger to bring the ball into its socket. The lower ends of the hangers are also provided will balls II to fit into cups or sockets I, provided at the ends of the rear supporting-spring J for the seat. The hangers may be provided between their ends with balls K, located, preferably, above the middle thereof, so that by adjusting the spring J from one set of balls to the other the seat connected to the spring J may be made higher or lower. The adjustment is made by lifting the hangers G until the flat poirtion 5 is brought opposite to the slots in the socket of the standard O, when the hanger can be moved from the socket and the intermediate ball K set in the socket, and thus the length of the hanger is lessened or increased, as desired. The fiat portions 5 and G are made on the hanger, so that when those portions are opposite the slots in thesockets the hanger can be placed in position, and after they are inserted the hanger is moved longitudinally to bring the flat portions away from the slots, and then the hangers cannot slip out of the socket.

The spring J is provided with the block or bar L, which is secured to its upper face by the clips M, and to this block the seat will be connected, which may be done by means of a curved bar M. The under face of the block L on each side of the clips is beveled upwardly and outwardly toward its ends, so as to have a space between it and the spring when'there is only the weight of, say, one person on the seat, but which space will wholl'yor partially disappear when the weight is increased, say, by two persons sitting on the seat, the spring in such case being spread by the additional weight, so as to brin git and the beveled face of the block in contact, and thus increase the bearing-surface or point of contact between the block and spring, and thereby afford an additional brace for the spring proportionate to the increased weight upon it.

ole-say to the axle l3--by suitable means,

The bar M will have the seat-bars or footrests N secured to its ends by clips or bolts 1) or otherwise. The forward ends of these seat-bars or foot-rests are suitably secured, say, bybeing hinged to the transverse spring 0. The preferred manner of securing the seat-bars or foot-rests to said sprii'ig is by forming a hole or eye in the ends of the seat bars, so as to permit the passage through it of the spindle or rounded endsP of the springbar Q, said spindles being provided with the cup-shaped washers 1 and 2, fitting on opposite sides of the seat-bars and being provided with rubber or elastic cushions 3, projecting so as to bear against the sides of the'seatbars to prevent rattling and yet permit said bars to have a free movement when the washers are in position to hold the seat-bars or foot-rests to their places.

The spring-plate O is clamped between the curved transverse bars P, which connect the thills and to which the singletree is pivoted. The preferred form of the springOis'one which is flat in cross-section, with a portion lying in a horizontal plane and a portion in a vertical plane, madeso by giving the end portions of the spring a quarter-twist, so as to bring them into a horizontal plane, while the central portion will be in a vertical plane; orinstead of having the ends in a horizontal plane and the middle portion in a vertical plane the middle portion may be in a horizontal plane and't'he ends in a vertical plane, as shown in Fig. By thusconstructing the spring 0 both vertical and horizontal motion is compensated for or overcome. This forward spring is not confined to a cart having the other parts constructed as herein set forth, but is applicable to other constructions, and hence is considered as embraced in this invention in whatever form of cart or vehicle to which it is adapted,

Instead of having the ball at formed on the end of the seat-bars, it may he formed on the end of the front cross-spring, and the cups 1 and 2 may be attached to the end of the seatbars, as shown in Fig. 7.

By suspending the seat by the seat-bars and hangers, as described, the wheels are relieved from strain, the seat is relieved from the .action of the running-gear, the horse -motion is overcome, and all sudden jars prevented.

The spring 0 will give or yield at each end alternately with each step of the horse, and in connection with the manner of suspending the seat at the rear by the ball-and-socket hanger will contribute to overcome the quick motion, so as not to affect the seat by that quick motion and to relieve from all sudden jars, besides taking the strain from oil the wheels.

The form of hanger described is considered the best; but still the same may be modified without departing from the invention. For instance, instead of using the ball and socket at both the upper and lower ends of the hanger, it may be employed at only one end, and the end next to the thills may be connected directly to the thills by engaging a hook on the hangers with an eye connected to the thills, as shown in Fig. 9 of the drawings, in such event dispensing with the standards C.

In order that the seat may be ad just-ed in width so as to accommodate with equal comfort either one or two persons, the seat is provided with a rail adapted to be raised to narrow the seat to make it comfortable for a single person or to widen it so as to have its normal width, which will accommodate comfortably two persons. The foregoing can be effected by different constructions, in all of which is employed a hinged or swinging bail or rail adapted to be folded, so as not to interfere with the use of the seat when two persons occupy the seat and to be raised and thereby narrow the seat when only one person is to occupy it. One mode of attaching this supplemental bail Q is illustrated in Fig.

7, in which the sides of the rails are pivoted by bolts 0 to the front and rear edges of the seat, while the ends (Z are bent inwardly under the seat. The sides are pivoted eccentrically relatively to the ends, for instance, by curving the ends forward of the sides, as shown at 6, so that when the bail is raised the ends (I will bear against the under side of the seat and thus support the bail in an upright inclined position, and when the bail is folded or turned down it will lie flat upon the seat or flush with it, as indicated by dotted lines, the seat being formed with an appropriate depression f to receive the bail when folded and with notches g for the thumb and forefinger to enter in taking hold of the bail to lift it. For the purpose of holding the rail in both its raised and lowered positions there may be provided a spring R, which may be of flat spring metal and secured to the under side of the seat with a portion pressing against the ends of the bail, so as to hold it in either one of its adjusted positions, as illustrated in Fig. 7.

Instead of attaching the bail as described, it may be applied as shown in Fig. 8, which may be the preferred form, by forming slots h in the bottom of the seat, into which will be set the box S, in which the bail will be pivoted by the bolts 0. This box will be secured to the seat by screws 1', and at one end will have the projection or lug j, against which the bail will bear when raised, so as to be supported in an upright position. The spring-plate R will form the bottom to the box and serve to hold the bail in its raised or lowered position, as hereinbefore described. In such case the seat will be formed with the depressions f and notches g, for the purposes hereinbefore set forth. It will thus be seen that the invention is not confined to any particular mode of applying the supplemental rail, but that any suitable mode may be adopted. This supplemental rail can be applied to the seat of any carriage, wagon, roadcart, or other form of vehicle, and will work satisfactorily to whatever form it may be applied.

hat are considered to be thebest forms of the several features of the invention have been described, and the operation and function of the several parts will be understood from the foregoing description; but still the invention is not intended to be restricted to such particular forms, as it is obvious from the descriptionthat other forms embodying the invention may be used.

Having described my invention and set:- forth its merits, What I claim is 1. The combination, with the seat, of a supporting-spring therefor formed with sockets at its ends, and hangers suspended from a suitable support and passed through openings in said sockets and having balls fitting in the sockets, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination, with the seat and its supporting-spring, of a support formed with a socket having an opening therein, and a hanger connected with said spring and passed through the opening in said support and provided with a ball fitting in the socket of said support, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination, with the seat and its supporting-spring formed with sockets having slots in their sides, of supports formed with sockets having slots in their sides, and hangers provided with balls at different points, which fit in the sockets of said spring and supports, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. In a vehicle, the combination, with the seat and a suitable support, of a hanger reduced in diameter at various points and provided with a series of balls at points to lengthen or shorten the hanger, and sockets for the reception of said balls and formed with side slots for the' entrance and Withdrawal of said hangers at their reduced portions, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. In a two-Wheeled vehicle, the combination, with a seat and seat-bars, of a spring supported from the cross-bar, having portions thereof lying in different planes, so as to give a combined lateral and vertical movement, and the seat-bars pivoted to said spring, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination, with the seat and seatbars, of a flattened transverse spring-supported between the thills and having portions thereof lying in different planes, as set forth, and both portions extending horizontally and having the front ends of the seat-bars connected thereto, substantially as described.

7. In a two-wheeled vehicle, the combination of the spring connected to the cross-bar of the shafts and having portions thereof lying in different planes, the foot-rests or seat-bars having their forward ends connected to the outer ends of said spring, and the seat having connected to it the rear ends of the foot-rests and itself supported upon the spring carried by the axle, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination of the transverse sprin g, the seat-bars hinged to the opposite ends of said spring, the seat, a spring for supporting the seat, provided with sockets having openings therein, supports provided with sockets having openings therein, and hangers passed through the openings in said sockets and having balls lying in the sockets, substantially as described.

9. The combination, with the seat and the transverse spring supported between the thills, of the seat-bars connected with said seat and by spherical ends to the ends of said transverse spring, and spherical Washers on said transverse spring, bearing against the opposite sides of the spherical ends of said seat-bars, substantially as described.

10. The combination, with the seat and the transverse spring, of the seat-bars, and a balland-socket connection between the said spring and seat-bars, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

11. The vehicle'seat, in combination with an auxiliary rail connected to said seat between its side rails, adapted to be raised and lowered to regulate the Width of the seatbetween its side rails, substantially as and for the pur poses set forth.

12. The vehicle-seat formed with depressions to receive a folding rail, in combination with the auxiliary rail connected with said seat to be raised and lowered to regulate the Width of the seat and adapted to lie in said depressions formed in the seat, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

13. The combination, with the seat and its folding auxiliary rail to regulate the Width of the seat, of a spring to act on said rail to hold it in its raised or lowered position, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

Ll. The combination, with the box to be set into a recess in the seat, of the folding auxiliary rail pivoted in said box, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix mysignature'in presence of two Witnesses.

SIEPIIEN E. BURKE.

Witnesses:

JOHN G. Bnooks, O. L. MERIFIELD. 

